Dwarf vs Monster Tactics
Zombie A dwarf is far more powerful and resilient than a single zombie. If there is a straight swing vs swing fight in the light, the dwarf will win 99 out of 100 times. Use your power and healing ale to your advantage and control the fight versus a player zombie. Do not let them run around and take cheap shots; throw them around instead by using charging swings (sprint and jump while swinging) for increased damage and force them to retreat or risk becoming a PROC. Remember that zombies have vampirism that allow them to heal for each hit they connect with, but with powerful swings a dwarf should win easily. As for the above, also do not let a zombie (or any other monster) lure you into darkness. "Fight in the light or face the Fury of the Night," one could say. In darkness, a fully upgraded zombie can do 2.3 times more damage than normal, and that is a very lethal amount. Always place torches and lamps when you are in darkness and remember that the zombie could be in darkness and benefiting from Fury of the Night while you are still in the light. Do not under any circumstances try to fight zombies indoors by shooting a bow. Bows only do 30% of normal damage and will trigger a very strong healing buff in player zombies that will negate the damage done nearly instantly and make the zombie that much harder to kill for melee fighters. It is also ill-advised to shoot player zombies with a bow outdoors unless you are sure that you can shoot them multiple times (three shots for a fully upgraded zombie) or they are not otherwise engaged with other dwarves as those dwarves could be trying to start a PROC. Skeleton Skeletons, while physically the weakest of the monsters, are also arguably the most dangerous of the common monsters. A skeleton can use quick arrow shots to knock you back and drain your health and armor quickly (even more quick are the wither skeletons). Infiltrator skeletons can slow dwarves down to a crawl (while still suffering knock-back) and impact skeletons can knock you back even further than a normal skeleton. There are a few methods for dealing with skeletons, but they come down to luck or tactics most of the time: * '''''Take a skeleton by surprise''''': If a dwarf finds a skeleton with their back facing to them, they are most likely going to be an easy enough melee kill. Get to them, stop, then start swinging to make sure you do not knock them around; a good skeleton will quickly turn 180 while flying and get you into the knock-back lock-down mentioned earlier. If they are toe to toe with the dwarf, the dwarf is not moving or jumping, and the skeleton is not paying attention, a few hits should kill them. * '''''Beat them at their own game''''': Skeletons are either one or two-shot with a bow outside, and even inside they are three or four-shot. If you know you cannot get to a skeleton without them noticing, try quickly firing an arrow. Some skeletons will panic and move away, or you may even kill one. At the very least, you will give them pause as they wonder what hit them and they may use their healing tonic. * '''''Suicide charge (not advised for novices)''''': A daring dwarf could simply try to charge at a skeleton and hope that they are a poor shot or are simply barely paying attention to them. If this tactic is used, it is advised that the dwarf be ready to zig, zag, weave, bob, or do anything to confuse the skeleton and have their healing potion ready and their armor in good shape. Once caught up to melee range, make sure you do not knock the skeleton away from you while swinging (avoid sprinting and jumping). * '''''Slab-to-the-face (veterans only)''''': If you see a group of skeletons perched on a ledge and you know a dwarf is not going to be getting up to kill them at any time, a dwarf can use an EZ Fix Slab to block up the perch or even trap the skeletons in the slab. A major factor to consider before trying this tactic is if other dwarves are going to be traversing through the gap the skeletons are in. A poorly placed slab could spell doom for any dwarves that are caught on the other side. The placement of the slab could also be affected by any knock-back happening right before the slabbing, causing an inadvertent blocking of a major passageway, PROC hall, or shrine. Use this tactic with caution. Creeper Creepers can be the most annoying common monster to try to kill. When they trigger their fuse, their movement speed increases (as fast as a PROCing dwarf) and a good creeper will use the fuse time to maneuver and juke dwarves in order to explode on them for dwarf damage, use their massive knock-back to place them into precarious situations, and/or damage walls and PROC halls. The good news here is that any hit will reset the fuse timer and the creeper will have to ignite again and wait for the fuse timer. Thus, the best way to deal with a creeper would be to ensure that they are continuously being hit. Creepers are hardy among monsters and will take a fair amount of hits before dying, but they only have natural healing and can be weakened pretty easily. Outside, creepers are a two hit monster (except fresh creepers who have not upgraded their carapace, but those are uncommon) with a bow. Archers and Rangers should prioritize creepers for shooting as they can, in the long run, do the most damage of the basic monsters by directly or indirectly killing dwarves or damaging walls and halls. Also, be wary of your positioning on a wall or platform. A creeper can have a surprisingly large blast radius and can knock a "safe" dwarf down off the wall or into a ravine. Of course, watch your back if you are on the front wall for a sneaky creeper to try to blast you into the fray below. Indoors, cornering a creeper and using charge attacks are probably a dwarf's best bet if they do not have a PROC. Listen closely for the hiss, look around, and just try to connect with a creeper to reset their fuse. Of note is a bug that allows a dwarf to get a kill and start a PROC if a creeper detonates after being "tagged" by a dwarf. This can occur if the creeper is "tagged" and immediately ignites their fuse again and successfully explodes. At worst, it never hurts to just tag a creeper and hope for the best. The "tagging" effect usually clears after about five seconds. Spiderling A group of spiderlings can turn a wall or a PROC hall into a pile of green goo very quickly so spiderlings should be dealt with as soon as they are seen. Spiderlings are a very quick three-hit kill from melee, and they make very attractive PROC targets. With that in mind, take note that a good spiderling will know it is a target and it may try to lead dwarves away from the shrine or into darkness where wolverines, zombies or venomburners wait. Take advantage of any spiderling that tries to get melee attacks by taking a few swings at them, but do not be tempted to chase a spiderling too far. Spiderlings are also particularly vulnerable to bow attacks, taking only one hit to kill them either outdoors or indoors. Spiderlings are not as fast and do not jump as high as a venomburner, nor do they have any type of healing abilities except for natural regeneration, and only boast three hearts. They also can do significant damage to walls or harass dwarves with long lasting poison. Because of these two facts, they should be among the first monsters targeted for elimination Iron Golem Outside, they are a lesser threat. Hit them with your bow until their armor breaks, and then you can one-shot them with your bow. Inside, they are a bigger threat as bows do less damage, and getting cornered by a Golem is almost certainly fatal. Usually, rely on BruceWillakers and NisovinsIllusion to proc them, but you are unable to kill them as a regular dwarf and must rely on breaking their armor manually and hitting them 2 times after it breaks. An Iron Golem can be knocked away fairly effectively by sprinting and jumping while swinging your sword. This can help a dwarf who is cornered or even knock a golem out of position or into a ravine. Venomburner The venomburner can range from a moderately difficult to a truly fearsome opponent that can easily slay even the greatest of dwarves thanks to its offensive and defensive power. The venomburner has great mobility and jump height that can make even reaching a venomburner a difficult task. Add to the fact that in darkness the venomburner can drain dwarven mana and heal itself with every strike and you have a monster that is potentially more dangerous than an iron golem at melee. The most important advice that any dwarf should take is to NEVER under any circumstances try to fight a venomburner in darkness. Unlike a zombie fight, in a swing vs. swing battle against a dwarf, a venomburner in darkness should win. Their offensive firepower is too great, plus with every attack they make they are healed while draining the dwarf of its mana reserve. A dwarf trying to stay alive by spamming potion and losing mana through the bites and flames of the venomburner will be dead very quickly. If a dwarf sees a venomburner approaching, flee to a well lit area, or at least place a torch to give light and remove the venomburner's advantage. Once in a well lit area or during daytime, the dwarf has a few options for dealing with a venomburner. The first is using bows; venomburners do not benefit from the bow hit regeneration buff that a wolverine or zombie have. Two or three hits will kill a venomburner, even if they are not spammed as long as the venomburner is not healing in dark melee combat. A dwarf can even safely use a bow against a venomburner indoors due to the lack of a bow hit regeneration buff. Once in melee, especially in light conditions, most venomburners will use their jumping ability to try to confuse a dwarf while spamming flames. While this can be seen as an advantage to a venomburner, jumping also severely reduces the forward momentum of the venomburner. Use this knowledge to your advantage and follow the venomburner's jumps while swinging; they will not gain or lose much distance and they should be killed with only moderate difficulty. If a venomburner is not jumping around and is staying just out of melee range while flame spamming, it may be trying to tempt a dwarf into darkness to try to deal with it. Beware of this tactic and do not fall for it. If the dwarf is aware of its situation and stays in a lit area, a venomburner should be no more difficult to handle than a zombie. Wolverine Rat As a dwarf, it's usually best to avoid killing Rats with your bow if you can help it, as their extremely low Maximum Health, 1 heart which takes either 2 sword hits or 1 bow shot to kill, makes them a prime target for starting up a proc if you can land a hit with your sword/shovel. Keep in mind that rats sole purpose is your precious torches! Don't let these little guys past your defenses because they will eat up the torches and will gain a significant amount of mana. Digging Zombie